HUNNEMAN: Storm Eyes logo still a top seller

It was Mark Beskidâs first job after college and his first assignment when he arrived in Lake Elsinore.

Fourteen baseball seasons later, the âStorm Eyesâ logo Beskid helped design for the Lake Elsinore Storm remains, in many respects, the benchmark by which minor league logos are measured.

Beskid, 36, recently added the title of assistant general manager to his business card, which already included his job as senior graphic designer for the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

âIâll be more involved in the marketing of the team this season,â he said as we sat at The Diamond recently while workers prepared the stadium for its 20th Opening Night, set for Thursday, April 10.

If it has anything to do with printed material, video production, Storm clothing and other memorabilia, chances are good Beskid had a hand in the production.

Last season the âStorm Warsâ scoreboard video he produced â" a spoof of Star Wars movies with the teamâs mascots taking up light sabers to battle evil and each other -- was one of five nominees for minor league baseballâs âbest in-game promotion.â

But with Beskid, the conversation often focuses on the two menacing eyes of the Stormâs logo that have made the teamâs baseball caps, clothing and other paraphernalia among the best sellers in minor league baseball.

The Storm employed two different logos prior to the 2001 season when Beskid arrived.

The first, when the team debuted in 1994, had a lightning bolt splitting the letters L and E.

The second logo, introduced in the 1998, featured a pair of eyes peering out from a dark âstormâ cloud.

Dave Oster took over as the clubâs general manager in 2000. The following year he hired Tracy Beskid to be the clubâs director of community development. The two had worked together at another minor league ballclub.

The new GM decided to hire an in-house graphics person to handle design, printed material and other projects.

Tracy mentioned to Oster her brother (Mark) had just graduated from college in New York with a degree in graphic arts.

Phone calls were exchanged and a few months later Mark headed west to join his sister on the Stormâs front office staff.

Join the conversation

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to allow Freedom Communications, Inc. the right to republish your name and comment in additional Freedom publications without any notification or payment.